SEOUL, South Korea — Park Geun-Hye, daughter of a divisive military strongman from South Korea’s authoritarian era, was elected the country’s first female president Wednesday, a landmark win that could mean a new drive to start talks with rival North Korea.

After five years of high tension under unpopular incumbent Lee Myung-bak, Park has vowed to pursue engagement and step up aid to North Korea, despite the latter’s widely condemned long-range rocket launch last week. North Korean state media have questioned the sincerity of Park’s North Korea policy because she and Lee are from the same conservative party.

Ties between the Koreas plummeted as many voters said Lee’s policies drove North Korea to renew nuclear and missile tests and to launch two attacks in 2010 that killed 50 Koreans. The rocket launch made North Korea an issue in the closing days of campaigning, although many voters said they cared more about the economy.

Park has said she is open to dialogue with North Korea, but she has also called on Pyongyang to show progress in nuclear dismantlement. She has also raised the possibility of a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, but only if it’s “an honest dialogue on issues of mutual concern.”

Huge crowds lined up in frigid weather throughout the day to choose between Park and liberal candidate Moon Jae-in, the son of North Korean refugees. Turnout was the highest in 15 years. Despite moving to the center, Park was carried by her conservative base of mainly older voters.

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